Aircraft seating and seating arrangements

ABSTRACT

A seating arrangement for an aircraft cabin is disclosed which includes seats having a backrest ( 16 ) which is pivotally moveable from an upright position to a flat position. A side ottoman ( 22 ) having a front portion ( 42 ) is located beside the seat base ( 14 ) of the seat. The seat has a footwell ( 32 ) into which the front portion of the side ottoman locates so that when the seat ( 16 ) is in the flat position a bed is formed by the rear surface ( 17 ), the front portion ( 42 ) located in the footwell of a front seat in front of the said seat and a base ( 34 ) of an open space ( 30 ) behind is the backrest ( 16 ) when in an upright position.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an aircraft seat and seating arrangements, andto an aircraft cabin having the seating arrangements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

International application no. PCT/SG2005/000041 discloses an aircraftseating arrangement particularly for first class or business classseating. The seat disclosed in this International application isintended to fold from a position where a passenger can be seated, to aposition where the seat becomes a bed.

The contents of the above International application are incorporatedinto this specification by this reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to improve the seat so a longer bed canbe provided by each seat whilst still maintaining or reducing seatpitch.

The invention provides a seat for an aircraft cabin, comprising:

-   -   a backrest, having a front surface for supporting a passenger in        a seating position when the backrest is in an upright position,        and having a rear surface;    -   a seat base upon which a passenger is seatable;    -   a rear seat section behind the backrest when the backrest is in        the upright position, the rear seat section having an open space        which has a base, and a footwell closed to the open space beside        the open space;    -   a fixed side ottoman located beside the seat portion and        extending in front of the seat portion, the side ottoman having        a front portion, the front portion of the side ottoman being        locatable within the footwell of another said seat in front of        the said seat;    -   the backrest being pivotally mounted for movement from the        upright position to a flat position so the base of the open        space, the rear surface of the backrest when in the flat        position and the side ottoman form a bed configuration; and    -   the base, the rear surface of the backrest and the front portion        of the ottoman form a substantially flat surface when the seat        is in the bed configuration.

Thus, according to the invention when two such seats are located one infront of the other the front portion of the ottoman of the rear seat islocatable in the footwell of the front seat. This enables the actuallength of the bed to increase compared to that of the abovementionedInternational application. Further still, because there is some overlapof the seat with the front portion locating in the footwell, althoughthe length of the bedding is increased, the amount of space taken up bythe seats can be the same pitch or reduced pitch compared to those inthe above International application.

Preferably the backrest has an extension piece pivotally mounted to thebackrest for pivotal movement when the backrest is in the flat positionto fill a space between the rear of the backrest and the front portionof the ottoman, the extension piece forming part of the substantiallyflat surface.

Preferably the extension piece folds flat against the rear surface ofthe backrest when the backrest is in an upright position.

Preferably the seat has a shell having sides and a rear panel, the openspace being defined by one of the sides and the footwell, the footwellbeing formed partly in the rear panel as a box section extendingforwardly of the rear panel.

Preferably the sides have first rear sections and second front sections,the rear sections being higher than the front sections, and the openspace being defined between one of the rear sections and the footwell.

Preferably the footwell has a front wall and the backrest when in theupright position is adjacent to the front wall.

Preferably the footwell has a second part outside one of the sides, thesecond part being in line with the side ottoman.

Preferably the side ottoman has a shelf adjacent the said one of thesides.

The seat when in the bed configuration may provide a bed which issubstantially horizontal or slightly upwardly inclined from the frontportion of the side ottoman to the base of the open space.

The invention also provides an aircraft cabin having at least two seatsarranged one in front of the other;

-   -   each of said seats having;    -   (a) a backrest having a front surface for supporting a passenger        in a seating position when the backrest is in an upright        position, and having a rear surface;    -   (b) a seat base upon which a passenger is seatable;    -   (c) a rear seat section behind the backrest when the backrest is        in an upright position, the rear seat section having an open        space which has a base, and a footwell closed to the open space        beside the open space;    -   (d) a fixed side ottoman located beside the seat portion and        extending in front of the seat portion, the side ottoman having        a front portion; and wherein    -   the backrest is pivotally mounted for movement from the upright        position to a flat position so the base of the open space, the        rear surface of the backrest when in the flat position and the        side ottoman form a bed configuration;    -   the base, the rear surface of the backrest and the front portion        of the ottoman form a substantially flat surface when the seat        is in the bed configuration;    -   the front portion of the ottoman of a rear. seat of the two        seats extending into the footwell of a front seat of the two        seats; and    -   wherein when the rear seat is in the bed configuration a        passenger can lie transverse with respect to a central axis of        the aircraft with the passenger's head resting on the base of        the open space of the rear seat and the passenger's feet located        in the footwell of the front seat on the front portion of the        side ottoman of the rear seat.

Preferably the backrest has an extension piece pivotally mounted to thebackrest for peripheral movement when the backrest is in the flatposition to fill a space between the rear of the backrest and the frontportion of the ottoman, the extension piece forming part of thesubstantially flat surface.

Preferably the extension piece folds flat against the rear surface ofthe backrest when the backrest is in an upright position.

Preferably the seat has a shell having sides and a rear panel, the openspace being defined by one of the sides and the footwell, the footwellbeing formed partly in the rear panel as a box section extendingforwardly of the rear panel.

Preferably the sides have first rear sections and second front sections,the rear sections being higher than the front sections, and the openspace being defined between one of the rear sections and the footwell.

Preferably the footwell has a front wall and the backrest when in theupright position is adjacent to the front wall.

Preferably the footwell has a second part outside one of the sides, thesecond part being in line with the side ottoman.

Preferably the side ottoman has a shelf adjacent the said one of thesides.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of a seat according to the preferred embodiment in aseated position with the seat in an upright position;

FIG. 2 is a view of the seat of FIG. 1 but showing a passenger reclinedon the seat whilst the seat is in the upright position;

FIG. 3 is a view of the seat of FIGS. 1 and 2 in a bed configuration;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of a seat according to the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a plan view through two seats;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section through the seats of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an illustration showing the configuration of the previouslymentioned International application; and

FIG. 8 is an illustration of the preferred embodiment of the inventionshowing the difference between the preferred embodiment and the seat ofFIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing a seat 10 in an upright position with apassenger seated in the seat 10.

FIG. 2 is a view of the same seat 10 shown in FIG. 1 with one leg of thepassenger resting on a side ottoman. In an aircraft cabin a number ofthese seats are arranged one in front of another and are fixed tosuitable supports such as rails or the like (not shown) to secure theseats in place.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the seat has a shell 12 formed from anysuitable rigid material such as aluminium, rigid plastic material or thelike. The shell 12 supports a seat base 14 and the backrest 16.

The shell 12 has a side shell 20 which supports a side ottoman 22. Theside shell 20 typically extends adjacent the side wall of the aircraftcabin.

The shell 12 has first and second side portions 23 and 24 and first andsecond rear side portions 25 and 26. The rear sections 25 and 26 arehigher than the front sections 23 and 24. The shell 12 also has a rearpanel 27.

The seat 10 will be provided with a safety belt as is conventional,which is not shown in the drawings. A separate set of safety belts canbe provided for the seat when in the bed configuration.

FIG. 3 is a view of the seat 10 in a bed configuration. In theconfiguration shown in FIG. 3 the backrest 16 has been pivoted down to aflat position so that rear surface 17 is uppermost. Movement of thebackrest to the position shown in FIG. 3 exposes a rear seat portion 30located behind the backrest 16 when in the upright position, and whichis generally defined by the back panel 27 and the side sections 25 and26. The rear seat section 30 has an open space 32 which has a base 34,and the first part 31 of a footwell cavity 32. The footwell part 31 is abox section formed from an upright panel 33, an inclined top panel 35,and a small front surface 36. A second part 38 of the footwell 32 is anextension of the part 31 defined within the shell 12 beside wall 26.

The side ottoman 22 has a shelf 39 which can be used both when the seatis in the seating configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the bedconfiguration shown in FIG. 3. The ottoman 22 has an ottoman surface 40and a front portion 42 which is a continuation of the surface 40. Thefront portion 42 is located in front of the backrest 16 when thebackrest in the position shown in FIG. 3.

An extension piece 41 is pivotally connected to the backrest 16 and canpivot from a position overlapping the backrest 16 to the position shownin FIG. 3 to occupy the space between the rear surface 17 of thebackrest and the front portion 42 of the ottoman. The line 45 shown inFIG. 3 generally shows the position of the rear panel 27′ (FIG. 6) ofanother seat 10′ (FIG. 6) in front of the seat shown in FIG. 3.

The front portion of the ottoman 42 extends into the footwell 32′ of theseat 10′ in front of the seat 10 shown in FIG. 3 as is best shown inFIG. 4.

In FIG. 4 the front seat 10′ located in front of the seat 10 shows thecavity which forms the footwell 32′ into which the front portion 42extends.

When the seat is in the bed configuration shown in FIG. 3 the base 34 ofthe open space 32, the rear surface 17 of the backrest 16, the extensionpiece 41 and the front portion 42 of the ottoman 22 form a flat surfacewhich forms a bed.

The preferred embodiment of the invention includes the side ottoman 22as part of the available bed surface when the seat is in the bedconfiguration. The height of the ottoman 22 is designed to match theheight of the other bed components (i.e. rear surface 17) when the seatis in the bed configuration.

The base 34, rear surface 17 and extension piece 42 can be covered by acomfortable foam material or the like as is the ottoman surface 40 andfront portion 42.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of two seats 10 and 10′ with the seat 10 in thebed configuration. As is apparent from FIG. 5 a person's head can locatein the open space 32 resting on the base 34 (or on a pillow or othercomfortable head support located on the base 34) and the person can laydiagonally across the rear surface 17 of the backrest 16 with theperson's feet locating on the front portion 42 of the ottoman 22 withinthe footwell 32′ of the front seat 10′.

A side view of the two seats is shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 6 a pivotalcoupling 51 can be seen which enables the backrest 16 to move from theupright position to the flat position as shown by dotted line A, andalso the pivotal coupling 52 which enables the extension piece 41 tomove from the folded position against the rear surface 17 of thebackrest 16 into positions shown in FIG. 6 as illustrated by the dottedline B in FIG. 6. It is also apparent from FIG. 6 that the front portion42 of the side ottoman 22 extends into the footwell 31′ of the frontseat 10′. FIG. 6 also shows the supporting structure 52 which supportsthe seat in the aircraft cabin. The supporting structure 52 isconventional and therefore will not be described in any further detail.FIG. 6 also shows seat mechanism 53 for enabling the seat to be adjustedbetween a fully upright position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and into areclined position in which the seat base 14 moves slightly forwardcausing the backrest 16 to take up a more inclined upright position.Again the mechanism 53 is conventional and therefore will not bedescribed in further detail.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of two seats according to the abovementionedInternational application with the rear seat in the bed configuration.As can be seen from FIG. 7 the width of the actual seat portion itselfis 38 inches with the overall width of the seating configuration being46 inches. The length of the bed is generally illustrated bydouble-headed arrow C in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 shows the rear seat 10 of the preferred embodiment of theinvention in the bed configuration, with the front seat 10′ in thenormal upright configuration. As is apparent from FIG. 8 the width ofthe seat is reduced to about 30 inches whilst the overall width of theconfiguration remains the same. However, the length of the bed isincreased as shown by arrow D. Arrow C is also shown in FIG. 8 forcomparison purposes. Thus, the bed configuration is larger withoutsacrificing the overall width of the seat configuration shown in FIGS. 7and 8 or the overall length of the seat configuration. Thus, a largerbed length is achieved for the same pitch of seating within the aircraftcabin.

The rear of the panel 27 may be provided with a television screen forthe person behind that seat or with other items such as a foldable shelfetc.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the shell 12 can be formedin a number of parts such as a first part containing the sides 23 and 24and the lower part of the footwell part 31 and the rear sections 25 and26. The upper part of the rear panel 30 together with the upper part ofthe footwell 31 can be formed as a second part and joined to the firstpart along, for example, line 70 shown in FIG. 3.

When the seat 16 is in the upright position the rear of the seat 17 canrest against the front wall 36 for support. The seat may also lock inthe upright position as is conventional until it is adjusted to moveinto the flat position shown in FIG. 3 by means of a release mechanism72 shown in FIG. 3 which can be maneuvered to allow the seat to foldinto the flat position shown in FIG. 3 and used as a handle to returnthe seat to the upright position.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of theinvention, except where the context requires otherwise due to expresslanguage or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variationssuch as “comprises” or “comprising” is used in an inclusive sense, i.e.to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude thepresence or addition of further features in various embodiments of theinvention.

Since modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention mayreadily be effected by persons skilled within the art, it is to beunderstood that this invention is not limited to the particularembodiment described by way of example hereinabove.

1. A seat for an aircraft cabin, comprising: a backrest, having a frontsurface for supporting a passenger in a seating position when thebackrest is in an upright position, and having a rear surface; a seatbase upon which a passenger is seatable; a rear seat section behind thebackrest when the backrest is in the upright position, the rear seatsection having an open space which has a base, and a footwell closed tothe open space beside the open space; a fixed side ottoman locatedbeside the seat portion and extending in front of the seat portion, theside ottoman having a front portion, the front portion of the sideottoman being locatable within the footwell of another said seat infront of the said seat; the backrest being pivotally mounted formovement from the upright position to a flat position so the base of theopen space, the rear surface of the backrest when in the flat positionand the side ottoman form a bed configuration; and the base, the rearsurface of the backrest and the front portion of the ottoman form asubstantially flat surface when the seat is in the bed configuration. 2.The seat of claim 1, wherein the backrest has an extension piecepivotally mounted to the backrest for pivotal movement when the backrestis in the flat position to fill a space between the rear of the backrestand the front portion of the ottoman, the extension piece forming partof the substantially flat surface.
 3. The seat of claim 2, wherein theextension piece folds flat against the rear surface of the backrest whenthe backrest is in an upright position.
 4. The seat of claim 1, whereinthe seat has a shell having sides and a rear panel, the open space beingdefined by one of the sides and the footwell, the footwell being formedpartly in the rear panel as a box section extending forwardly of therear panel.
 5. The seat of claim 4, wherein the sides have first rearsections and second front sections, the rear sections being higher thanthe front sections, and the open space being defined between one of therear sections and the footwell.
 6. The seat of claim 5, wherein thefootwell has a front wall and the backrest when in the upright positionis adjacent the front wall.
 7. The seat of claim 4, wherein the footwellhas a second part outside one of the sides, the second part being inline with the side ottoman.
 8. The seat of claim 1, wherein the sideottoman has a shelf adjacent the said one of the sides.
 9. An aircraftcabin having at least two seats arranged one in front of the other; eachof said seats having; (a) a backrest having a front surface forsupporting a passenger in a seating position when the backrest is in anupright position, and having a rear surface; (b) a seat base upon whicha passenger is seatable; (c) a rear seat section behind the backrestwhen the backrest is in an upright position, the rear seat sectionhaving an open space which has a base, and a footwell closed to the openspace beside the open space; (d) a fixed side ottoman located beside theseat portion and extending in front of the seat portion, the sideottoman having a front portion; and wherein the backrest is pivotallymounted for movement from the upright position to a flat position so thebase of the open space, the rear surface of the backrest when in theflat position and the side ottoman form a bed configuration; the base,the rear surface of the backrest and the front portion of the ottomanform a substantially flat surface when the seat is in the bedconfiguration; the front portion of the ottoman of a rear seat of thetwo seats extending into the footwell of a front seat of the two seats;and wherein when the rear seat is in the bed configuration a passengercan lie transverse with respect to a central axis of the aircraft withthe passenger's head resting on the base of the open space of the rearseat and the passenger's feet located in the footwell of the front seaton the front portion of the side ottoman of the rear seat.
 10. The cabinof claim 9, wherein the backrest has an extension piece pivotallymounted to the backrest for pivotal movement when the backrest is in theflat position to fill a space between the rear of the backrest and thefront portion of the ottoman, the extension piece forming part of thesubstantially flat surface.
 11. The cabin of claim 10, wherein theextension piece folds flat against the rear surface of the backrest whenthe backrest is in an upright position.
 12. The cabin of claim 9,wherein the seat has a shell having sides and a rear panel, the openspace being defined by one of the sides and the footwell, the footwellbeing formed partly in the rear panel as a box section extendingforwardly of the rear panel.
 13. The cabin of claim 12, wherein thesides have first rear sections and second front sections, the rearsections being higher than the front sections, and the open space beingdefined between one of the rear sections and the footwell.
 14. The cabinof claim 9, wherein the footwell has a front wall and the backrest whenin the upright position is adjacent the front wall.
 15. The cabin ofclaim 11, wherein the footwell has a second part outside one of thesides, the second part being in line with the side ottoman.
 16. Thecabin of claim 9, wherein the side ottoman has a shelf adjacent the saidone of the sides.